The Grove on the campus of Ole Miss.
As my longtime friend, Wayne, and I powered through our post-Thanksgiving Day meal tryptophan-induced fatigue toward Nashville, TN, for the night, I wracked my brain trying to determine the last time I’d been on a college campus for a football game.
At first I thought it might have been the 1995 Michigan-Ohio State game when UM running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka absolutely WENT OFF on the second-ranked Buckeyes. He finished with 313 yards rushing and a touchdown as the Wolverines denied the Buckeyes a trip to the Rose Bowl (Northwestern earned the bid instead) with a 31-23 victory.
But then I remembered a return to my alma mater, Eastern Michigan, for a 2007 early-season game against Mid-American Conference foe, Ball State (a 38-16 BSU win). The game was not the reason for my attendance, but rather a 20th anniversary commemoration of the 1987 EMU team that won the MAC Championship and the California Bowl. I was the EMU student newspaper – the Eastern Echo‘s – Sports Editor for that memorable 1987 season.
Then, somewhere around Bowling Green, KY, it dawned on me! I’d attended the Indiana University at Bowling Green (OH) State University game with my father, son, uncle, and cousin sometime in the 2010s. (I wonder why I remembered it at that moment in time;-) It took some College Football Reference sleuthing, but I discovered that game was played on September 13, 2014 and, as my hazy memory recalled, BGSU sprang the upset, 45-42.
Suffice to say, what lie before Wayne and I over the next two days as Event No. 10 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project was going to be markedly different than attending a game at Bowling Green’s Doyt Perry Stadium, capacity 33,527.
- Friday – The Egg Bowl in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on the campus of Ole Miss University in Oxford
- Saturday – The Iron Bowl in Bryant-Denny Stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
So into the dark of this Thanksgiving night we continued to travel for a short respite in the hotel that became eponymous for a coffee brand – the Maxwell House – hoping for a solid night’s sleep as we prepared for a little SEC football rivalry-a-palooza.
Coming Up Clutch!
and Mississippi State co-existing.
As referenced above, it’d been a minute since I’d attended a college football game on campus and even longer since I’d attended a Power 4 football game. Back in 1995, my friend Josh and I arrived mid-morning and parked in the only lot I’d ever parked in for a University of Michigan football game: at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. We walked across the street and entered Michigan Stadium.
Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing!
As the months turned into weeks and I began checking on parking for these games, I quickly realized a couple of things: First, not every college campus has a massive high school footprint and/or (like UM) a golf course across the street it’s willing to annually sacrifice for parking. Second, the price of parking for major college football games has gone up … way up!
And while I have no doubt there were plenty of parking spots found hither and yon around these two SEC stadiums, I wasn’t about to play the game of hunting them down. Rather, I discovered both universities utilize an app known as Clutch! Not unlike the SpotHero app I’d used to secure parking in advance of Event No. 3 (Cardinals-Cubs at Wrigley Field), the Clutch! app allowed me to identify parking spots I could reserve in advance; which I was all about, as I had no idea what traveling conditions might be like for each game.
For the Egg Bowl, we wound up parking at Northwest Community College which was nearly three miles from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium but included a shuttle service with drop-off/pick-up service adjacent to the stadium.
The Walk of Champions
From left, starting Ole Miss quarterback, Jaxson Dart, and Coach Lane Kiffin, make their way along ‘The Walk of Champions’ route. Once the team was through, the masses along the route made a beeline for The Grove to enjoy tailgating fun prior to the start of the Egg Bowl.
As Wayne and I got the lay of the land and began to make our way to Ole Miss’s famed Grove tailgate Valhalla (annually rated among the top spots to revel before and after games) we found a throng of fans lining campus buildings just off All American Drive.
Curiosity finally got the best of me so I asked an amiable looking fella what was up.
“It’s ‘The Walk of Champions’,” Chad Blankenship told me. “The Ole Miss team buses drop the players and coaches off in The Grove and they walk through it and down here to the stadium about two hours before each game.”
Chad, it turns out, was the father of the second-string long snapper, Caleb. And it sounds like Caleb was quite the to-do at Ashdown (AR) High School. Chad said he took him to all of the top long snapping camps the summer before in hopes of identifying what opportunities existed. They’d even attended a camp at the University of Michigan.
Caleb settled on Ole Miss (as a non-scholarship player) because he felt it provided the best opportunity to see the field. Though he’s not played this season, his dad tells me that he’s dressed for every game and is part of the traveling squad. He’s the legitimate number two long snapper on the Rebels’ roster.
Wayne and I settled in next to Chad outside Shoemaker Hall waiting for Coach Lane Kiffin to bring his squad through the throng of fans.
‘The Walk of Champions.’
- My takeaway from the event: If you’re trying embody a team, togetherness, a championship mentality – if you will – then why was there no common dress among the walkers? Players were in coats and ties to joggers and everything in-between. A prohibition of wearing headphones/earbuds to ensure a connection to the fanbase? The entire event, while enjoyable to see in person, struck me as performative. I did not get the sense I was witnessing a group of champions (or even a team with a common goal) on their way to their next conquest.
The Grove
The place to be pregame for Ole Miss football is The Grove where tailgating is, shall we say, elevated.
I’ve never been one to tailgate. Shoot, my first year as a college student I was already working at the Echo and was a member of the media so I didn’t spend much time hanging with the tailgaters on the hill at Eastern Michigan University or, later when I was at the Ann Arbor News, on the University of Michigan Golf Course.
That said, the environment in The Grove at Ole Miss was next level.
Some of the decor seemed lifted from the pages of a Martha Stewart catalogue. When’s the last time you attended a pre-game party – under a flimsy tent! – that featured not one, but two, chandeliers!?! Many of the affairs we strolled by included centerpieces, floral arrangements, and buffets that would make Paula Dean envious.
Clockwise from upper left, yes, those are chandeliers you see in this tailgate; one of many magnolia trees in The Grove; floral arrangements were not uncommon to find on buffets; note the deviled eggs, no doubt for the Egg Bowl; and this group has a doublewide plot for their tent.
As Wayne and I ambled about the grounds, I caught myself marveling under a few tents at what was available for consumption (this was not the Weber Grill and kegger affairs that I recall). On the outskirts of Grove-central, Don and Alan invited us in for a bite to eat and/or drink.
They explained they were getting ready to close things up to get to the game and that we could help ourselves to anything we’d like. I grabbed a deviled egg, some pasta salad, a few pickles, and a slice of pecan pie; Wayne opted for a beer.
We learned that this has been this group’s pre-game tradition for years and that, if we were so inclined, we were welcome back following the game because they’d once again be open for the presumed after glow.
Inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
Clockwise from upper left, the Mississippi State University cheer team and Bulldog mascot pose for a photo pre-game; a look at the Ole Miss Hall of Famers and retired numbers (74, Ben Williams; 10, Eli Manning; 38, Chucky Mullins; and 18, Archie Manning); the press box at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium; and the exterior of the main scoreboard.
Stadiums seldom impress me. Those that are steeped in historic tradition or feature the modern amenities come closest. “The Vaught,” as it was referred to during a pre-game ceremony when a former player – whose name escapes me – came back to “Lock the Vaught” by pressing a giant red button, was neither steeped in history nor modern and came off as rather generic.
It was your standard football stadium that originally opened in 1915 with a capacity of 24,000 and has been expanded nine times since 1973 (about the time patron saint of Oxford, Archie Manning, was excelling in the NFL) to its present 64,038.
To say there was no feng shui in the place would be an understatement.
Our seats were in the lower level near the Mississippi State University tunnel. The views were, meh, but the company was lovely. To my left were a pair of Bulldogs’ band parents – their son was a third year trumpeteer – and to Wayne’s right were some longtime SEC football fans who turned out for the game. Behind us were some more MSU fans who were friendly enough and at the top of the section was the MSU band.
In front of us, however, was a quartet of what I can only presume were high school juniors who were trying their level best to impersonate the Ole Miss student section. They stood for the lion’s share of the game and parroted the chants and cheers heard in the distant endzone where the actual student section was.
In a word, the youngsters were annoying and evoked flashbacks of my time at the Red River Rivalry in Dallas’s Cotton Bowl where the University of Oklahoma alums stood the majority of the game. At least in Dallas all the standing fans provided temporary relief from the blazing 93-degree afternoon sun.
The Game
Clockwise from upper left, the Mississippi State University outside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium; the view of an Ole Miss offensive snap from our seats; a wide shot of the stadium from the top of our section; the Ole Miss logo is everywhere; the Rebels marching band peforms during halftime.
Yes, the Egg Bowl is an actual football game between rival universities located 113 miles apart by motor vehicle. Ole Miss entered the game with an 8-3 record while MSU was 2-9 but, as they say, you can throw out the records when these rivals meet, right?
Sure, we’ll go with that.
Actually, the visiting Bulldogs led at the end of the first quarter, 14-10, behind a pair of freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren touchdowns (one throwing and one running).
Meanwhile, Ole Miss quarterback, Jaxson Dart, had a rather pedestrian performance (passing for just 143 yards and a touchdown), but it was enough to both break the Rebels’ career passing record (previously held by Eli Manning at 10,119 yards; Dart has 10,213) and guide his team to a 26-14 victory.
Dart’s lone touchdown pass came early in the fourth quarter and was a dart (pun fully intended;-) to tight end Caden Prieskorn. Interestingly, Prieskorn is a Lake Orion, MI, native, a community that’s about halfway between my home and Wayne’s home. Fortuitously, this scoring play unfolded in front of our seats and I was able to capture it on video.
Final Thoughts
From left, the exterior of the Manning Athletics Peformance Center is seen beyond the gate. And the red clad media timeout fella only had 30 seconds left in this early-game timeout.
A few final thoughts after spending three-plus hours in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for my first on-campus Southeastern Conference football game experience.
- Aside from his retired number (18) and his name the Ole Miss Hall of Fame ring, I was surprised to not find more Archie Manning references around the stadium. There was no statue or plaque commemorating his time on campus (that I could find, at least). Perhaps something’s found in the Olivia and Archie Manning Athletics Peformance Center. I did read somewhere that the on-campus speed limit is 18 miles per hour (which, if true, is way cool), but we never spotted a posted sign.
- The Grove is no joke. I see now why some don’t even enter the stadium and just hang here enjoying food, beverages, and friends while watching the game (or, blasphemy, another one that might be more competitive or of more interest) on any number of televisions found throughout.
- What’s with dressing to the nines to attend a college football game? I witnessed a bit of this during the Red River Rivalry where skirts seemed to be the default for younger female fans, but that was in 90-degree weather! By the time we climbed into my car after the game, the dashboard thermometer read 43 degrees.
- I already knew this, but ESPN runs college football. Game time was listed as 2:30 p.m. Central Time. That was merely a suggestion, as kickoff did not occur until close to 2:52 p.m. That was due, no doubt, to the proceedings in Boulder, CO, where Coach Prime’s squad pasted Oklahoma State, 52-0, in a game that – inexplicably! – began at 10 a.m. local time. When you’re the network promoting a Black Friday tripleheader, well then, you best ensure folks are able to see all three games in their entirety. (Spoiler alert, the final game of the day [Georgia-Georgia Tech] lasts eight overtimes so rest up!)
- Speaking of television, the red-jacketed media timeout dude with his “Media Timeout Timer Sign” was, easily, the most powerful person in the stadium. And, at least from my seat, the most hated! Had he been within reach the first time he trotted out and started his clock counting down from 3 minutes, 40 seconds, I would have throat-punched the fella. As a fan at home, you don’t notice the length of these interuptions because you’re able to do something else. As a fan in the stadium, it completely stops any flow the game may have begun to develop and makes the proceedings drag. The first quarter (that’s 15 minutes of game action), which already began over 20 minutes late, lasted a whopping 44 actual minutes.
- All of these lengthy pauses puts the onus on in-house productions to keep fans engaged/entertained. The bands are only able to do so much (yet I wish we’d heard more from each), so you’re presented with stadium anthems accompanying light shows, in-game fireworks, and even a drone show. I captured a bit of video below.
- I didn’t visit the concession stand because that slice of pecan pie was doing me fine and I knew there was a post-game catfish dinner forthcoming. That said, I did walk by a couple of stands and it all seemed fairly standard. Lots of folks who I spied with food went all-in on the chicken tenders but I can’t vouch for them.
One Final Look
